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Much of this year’s State of the City Address was similar to what was presented in recent years: the mayor touched on property values, development, employment, sustainability, taxes, public safety and growth.

Some wasn’t: this was the first time a member of the state legislature made an impromptu appearance to let the audience know local schools were closed due to a nasty ice storm. (It was Rep. Dianne Hesselbein.)

On the surface it was a minor change, but perhaps the most significant aspect of Mayor Kurt Sonnentag’s speech Thursday morning at the Marriott was that he altered the way he presented information about the local tax rate – opting to delve deeper into the data in order to preemptively address accusations the city’s low tax rate is merely the result of high property values.

The Town of Middleton will see if City of Madison officials are interested in forming a tax incremental financing (TIF) district to spur development in the Seybold Road properties remaining in the town. (The location in question is on an island of town land in a sea of city, which is near Woodman’s grocery store and was created through years of annexation.)

Board Supervisor Tim Roehl has been backing a TIF district for the 35.9-acre area east of Gammon Road, saying it would not only boost property tax revenue for the town but also provide the funds to eventually reconstruct Seybold Road.

Creation of a TIF district, or TID, allows the town to borrow and repay the cost of infrastructure improvements from taxes generated by the incremental increase in property value.

Area TIDs have had a 14-year average lifespan, said Gary Becker, an economic development specialist with Vierbicher Associates, Inc., with the vast majority of TIDs paying off costs early.

David Dahmen, the middle school science teacher who wishes to run for a seat on the Middleton-Cross Plains Area School Board, filed a complaint with the Government Accountability Board (GAB) Friday afternoon. Dahmen’s complaint is against school board clerk Annette Ashley, who recently ruled against placing Dahmen’s name on the April 2 ballot due to an issue with his candidacy papers.

Reid Magney, public information officer for the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, said Ashley will have 10 business days to respond to the complaint. Dahmen will then have an opportunity to submit a reply.

After that, the GAB will rule. “We could uphold the clerk’s decision or we could order him placed on the ballot,” said Magney.

Ballots for the election won’t be printed until March.

Dahmen’s candidacy papers had been challenged by Jim Greer, the Area 1 School Board incumbent whose seat he hopes to take.

David Dahmen, the middle school science teacher who wishes to run for a seat on the Middleton-Cross Plains Area School Board, filed a complaint with the Government Accountability Board today. Dahmen's complaint is against school board clerk Annette Ashley, who ruled two weeks ago against placing Dahmen's name on the April 2 ballot.

Dahmen’s candidacy papers had been challenged by Jim Greer, the Area 1 School Board incumbent whose seat he hoped to win.

Dahmen had filed a response to Greer’s challenge, but Ashley concluded Dahmen’s nomination papers “have not been timely filed, and were not in the physical possession of the filing officer by the statutory deadline as required by [Government Accountability Board] rule 2.05(2).”

The Middleton Common Council on Jan. 15 approved The Carey Group’s request for $400,000 in developer-financed Tax Increment Financing (TIF). The deal is designed to attract Affiliated Construction Services (ACS) to a yet-to-be-built facility in the Good Neighbor City.

ACS currently has locations in Verona, Madison, China and the United Kingdom. A representative for the company said the Verona facility is undersized, as well as being too far from the company’s Madison office.

The Madison-based developer’s formal request for TIF, dated Jan. 2, said The Carey Group Real Estate Services, LLC is pursuing a 40,000 square foot build-to-suit development for ACS on Lot 19 within the Middleton Corporate Center. (The parcel is on the northwest corner of Nursery Drive and Deming Way.)

The City of Middleton held a public informational meeting Tuesday on a project to realign the Terrace Avenue and High Point Road intersection and reconstruct Terrace Avenue from just west of High Point Road to just east of Parmenter Street.

The purpose of the project is to create a “stronger link between the Greenway Center development area and the Downtown Business District and to replace aging infrastructure and utilities along Terrace Avenue,” according to Abby Attoun-Tucker, Middleton’s assistant director of community development.

Phase I of the project is scheduled to take place in 2013 and includes a realignment of the intersection of Terrace Avenue and High Point Road along with construction of a public parking lot at the intersection.

The arrival of the New Year ushered in fee and rate increases for most local citizens. Higher sanitary sewer rates and EMS fees, which went into effect January 1, were approved by the Middleton Common Council in December.

The Common Council first changed its general ordinances to include higher rates for most sewer customers. For many, the rates are up between five and eight percent.

Quarterly service charges are dependent on meter size. Those with a 5/8” meter saw charges rise from $18.51 to $19.55, with similar increases for sizes all the way up to 6”, for which the rate went from $336.53 to $355.39. Those with meters that are 8, 10 or 12 inches will see their quarterly service charges remain flat.

The sanitary sewer volume charge (per 100 gallons) increased from $0.218 to $0.237 for all customers.

Dane County has reached an agreement with the Middleton-based Bruce Company to acquire and permanently protect hundreds of acres south of Verona along the Sugar River, County Executive Joe Parisi announced today.

Details of the proposal to purchase and preserve 466 acres and over 2.5 miles of riverfront on the Sugar River were announced at a press conference on the Bruce Company. Pending review and approval of the County Board of Supervisors in the weeks ahead, Dane County hopes to close on ownership of the property this spring.

This purchase is the largest acquisition of river frontage in Dane County’s history and the second biggest in terms of acreage, according to a statement issued by Parisi’s office.